This Time, Defense Asks Soldiers to Speak
By Allan Holmes Tuesday, June 05, 2007 09:46 AM
The following item was posted by Bob Brewin.
The problem with most high-level military conferences held to discuss delivering services to soldiers is that the soldiers are absent from the discussion. They’re off fighting wars.
What you end up with is a bunch of generals and SESers talking milestones and processes that move at a glacial pace, which does little to solve problems faced by soldiers in the unfriendly environs of Iraq and Afghanistan.
But last month, Air Force Lt. Gen. Charles Croom, director of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), broke this worn out pattern at the agency’s customer conference by inviting an Army and Marine tactical communicator to speak. He told me that their presentations were not “very flattering on the service we provide forward, but it was their experience and told from the ground forward. About 3,500 folks listened to them and they may get rated as the most valued speakers we had.”
DISA has now posted on its Web site (http://www.disa.mil/conference/briefings/kokinda.ppt ) the presentation of one of those speakers, Army Co. Timothy Kokinda (CQ), who served last year as the assistant chief of staff for command, control communications and computers in Iraq. His take on the real-world experiences is definitely worth a read.
more at http://blogs.govexec.com/techinsider/archives/2007/06/this_time_defense_asks_soldier.html
